Article
Biology
Stephan Lautenschlager, Michael J. Fagan, Zhe-Xi Luo, Charlotte M. Bird, Pamela Gill, Emily J. Rayfield
Summary: Skeletal simplification occurred in multiple vertebrate clades, including the evolution from premammalian cynodonts to mammals. However, digital reconstruction and biomechanical modeling demonstrate that there is no evidence for an increase in cranial strength and biomechanical performance during this transition.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stewart M. Edie, Katie S. Collins, David Jablonski
Summary: This study developed an axis-based framework for orienting shells in landmark-based comparative morphology. By analyzing the shape differences of shells, it was found that different methods of orientation can lead to different results. The hinge line was suggested as the orientation method for shell morphology analysis. This axis-based approach is applicable for comparing samples with large morphological differences.
Article
Paleontology
Catherine Girard, Anne-Lise Charruault, Anne-Beatrice Dufour, Sabrina Renaud
Summary: The temperature-size rule (TSR) does not fully explain the size variation in fossil records, except for some correlation with time and geographic location. Other factors such as demographic and mortality patterns, temperature tolerance, and stress-induced size reduction may play a more significant role in size evolution.
MARINE MICROPALEONTOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Aurelien Lowie, Barbara De Kegel, Mark Wilkinson, John Measey, James C. O'Reilly, Nathan J. Kley, Philippe Gaucher, Jonathan Brecko, Thomas Kleinteich, Anthony Herrel, Dominique Adriaens
Summary: This study used μCT data and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to explore regional differences in vertebral shape in caecilian species. The results showed substantial differences in vertebral shape between the anterior and posterior regions of the spine.
JOURNAL OF ANATOMY
(2022)
Article
Anatomy & Morphology
Franziska Wagner, Irina Ruf
Summary: This study analyzed the turbinal skeleton of short snouted dogs and found that a shortened snout affects turbinal shape, size, and density, leading to growth arrest of the bone structure. The results suggest a potential association between the growth of intranasal structures and facial elongation in brachycephalic dogs.
ANATOMICAL RECORD-ADVANCES IN INTEGRATIVE ANATOMY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Wuyang Shui, Antonio Profico, Paul O'Higgins
Summary: Landmarks are commonly used to investigate form variation, but many objects lack identifiable landmarks. To address this, approaches have been developed to match points between surfaces using semilandmarks. However, the consequences of using semilandmarks on analyses of form variation are unclear. This study compares results from analyses based on landmarks and semilandmarks, finding differences that require cautious interpretation.
Article
Paleontology
Catherine Girard, Anne-Lise Charruault, Thomas Gluck, Carlo Corradini, Sabrina Renaud
Summary: Identifying relevant taxonomic and evolutionary units is a recurring issue in the fossil record, especially for ancient fossils without modern equivalents like conodonts. This study focuses on the Late Devonian conodont species, Icriodus alternatus, and reveals extensive morphological variation within the species. The study demonstrates that the morphological differences among subspecies mainly lie in their size range rather than general morphology. Additionally, the research suggests that ontogeny plays a significant role in shaping the morphological variation. The study also finds slight variations in the temporal ranges of subspecies, which may be influenced by environmental changes and the size range of the elements. The results indicate an hourglass model of disparity along ontogeny, suggesting a shift from loose developmental constraints to growth patterns modulated by functional constraints during occlusion.
Article
Evolutionary Biology
Luis Javier Galindo, Kristina Prokina, Guifre Torruella, Purificacion Lopez-Garcia, David Moreira
Summary: This study describes the morphological characteristics and genome data of two new Ophirinina species (Ophirina chinija and Agogonia voluta) and determines the phylogenetic position of Ophirinina. It is found that compared to other jakobids, Ophirinina may have retained additional mitochondrial elements, which can help to understand the early diversification of eukaryotes and the evolution of mitochondria.
GENOME BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yingying Song, Lili Li, Chao Li, Zengbin Lu, Fang Ouyang, Li Liu, Yi Yu, Xingyuan Men
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity of six commonly used insecticides with different modes of action to O. excavata larvae. The results showed that clothianidin and abamectin were the most toxic, while sulfoxaflor was identified as the only safe insecticide. Sublethal toxicity tests indicated that clothianidin, lambda-cyhalothrin, and abamectin significantly reduced larval weight, prolonged larval development duration, and decreased eclosion rate.
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Weiping Zeng, Mark A. Purnell, Haishui Jiang, Muhui Zhang
Summary: The study relies on natural assemblages from late Norian limestone beds in southwestern China to describe the apparatus composition and element morphology of Mockina and Parvigondolella. The findings provide insights into the relationships and morphological similarities of critical Late Triassic taxa.
JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Software Engineering
Cong Yang, Bipin Indurkhya, John See, Marcin Grzegorzek
Summary: This article introduces a novel approach to automatically generate visually promising skeletons without manual tuning. The approach generates backbone and dense skeletons from shape input, extends backbone branches via skeleton grafting, and introduces potential functions to improve accuracy of skeleton-based matching. Experimental results show that the proposed potential functions effectively reduce the number of incorrect matches.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON VISUALIZATION AND COMPUTER GRAPHICS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Shweta Pipaliya, Rui Santos, Dayana Salas-Leiva, Erina A. Balmer, Corina D. Wirdnam, Andrew J. Roger, Adrian B. Hehl, Carmen Faso, Joel B. Dacks
Summary: Comparing a parasitic lineage to its free-living relatives can help understand the evolutionary transition to parasitism. Research on Giardia intestinalis revealed a more varied and complete ESCRT machinery than previously thought, associated with multiple cellular locations, with changes in ESCRT complement predating adoption of a parasitic lifestyle.
Article
Microbiology
Sigmund Jensen, Jeremy A. Frank, Magnus O. Arntzen, Sebastien Duperron, Gustav Vaaje-Kolstad, Martin Hovland
Summary: The study uncovered the functions encoded in the genome of Gammaproteobacteria from the family Endozoicomonadaceae, which live inside deep-water coral reef clams and are associated with symbiotic relationships and nutritional systems. The research suggests a nutritional symbiosis fueled by enzymatic products from extracellular degradation processes.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Yong Yi Zhen
Summary: Seven conodont biozones were identified in carbonate-dominated shelf-marine environments in central and north-western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and New Zealand, while a separate scheme with seven conodont biozones was established for siliciclastic sequences in slope-basinal settings in New South Wales. The biozonal classification significantly improved regional and global biostratigraphic correlation and provided a solid foundation for Middle Ordovician chronostratigraphy in Australia and New Zealand. The Lachlan Orogen is globally unique in allowing correlation of contemporary conodont faunas across a wide range of water depths and biofacies.
JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Anthropology
Sarka Bejdova, Jan Dupej, Petr Veleminsky, Lumir Polacek, Jana Veleminska
Summary: This study on an Early Mediaeval population from the Mikulcice settlement found significant socioeconomic stratification in facial morphology, with differences in upper face morphology related to luxury grave goods and in mandibular morphology related to burial location. The findings suggest that genetic variability and environmental factors may have influenced these differences, with upper face morphology possibly more affected by genetic factors and mandibular morphology potentially more influenced by external conditions such as diet.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Muhui Zhang, Haishui Jiang, Mark A. Purnell, Xulong Lai
Article
Geography, Physical
Hanwen Zhang, Yuan Wang, Christine M. Janis, Robert H. Goodall, Mark A. Purnell
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2017)
Article
Biology
Jordan Bestwick, David M. Unwin, Richard J. Butler, Donald M. Henderson, Mark A. Purnell
BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS
(2018)
Review
Paleontology
Mark A. Purnell, Philip J. C. Donoghue, Sarah E. Gabbott, Maria E. McNamara, Duncan J. E. Murdock, Robert S. Sansom
Article
Paleontology
Mark A. Purnell, Muhui Zhang, Haishui Jiang, Xulong Lai
Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Thomas Clements, Mark Purnell, Sarah Gabbott
JOURNAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
(2019)
Letter
Ecology
Larisa DeSantis, Mikael Fortelius, Frederick E. Grine, Christine Janis, Thomas M. Kaiser, Gildas Merceron, Mark A. Purnell, Ellen Schulz-Kornas, Juha Saarinen, Mark Teaford, Peter S. Ungar, Indre Zliobaite
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2018)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jordan Bestwick, David M. Unwin, Mark A. Purnell
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2019)
Article
Geography, Physical
Neil F. Adams, Thomas Gray, Mark A. Purnell
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Paleontology
Jordan Bestwick, Andrew S. Jones, Mark A. Purnell, Richard J. Butler
Summary: Phytosaurs are large, semi-aquatic archosaurian reptiles from the Middle-Late Triassic, often interpreted as carnivorous or piscivorous. Research using dental microwear analysis provides quantitative dietary constraints for Phytosaurs, showing low dietary diversity and slight preferences for 'harder' invertebrates. The study reveals high ecological convergence between Phytosaurs and extant crocodilians, enhancing our understanding of Triassic ecosystems.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Laura J. McLennan, Mark A. Purnell
Summary: Elasmobranchs, as abundant and widespread predators, play important roles in the food-web dynamics of marine communities. Tooth microwear, quantified through 3D surface textures, varies with diet in elasmobranchs, providing a new tool for dietary analysis that can reduce the impact on wild populations and overcome the bias of stomach contents analysis. This technique has the potential to complement existing methods, like stable isotope analysis, for studying the dietary ecology of living and extinct elasmobranchs.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jordan Bestwick, David M. Unwin, Donald M. Henderson, Mark A. Purnell
Summary: Intraspecific microwear differences and the influence of non-dietary variables on texture characteristics were investigated using DMTA on 13 species of extant reptiles. Five species exhibited intraspecific microwear differences, with texture characteristics correlating with all non-dietary variables. The study suggests that DMTA has the potential to track mechanical and behavioral differences in tooth use, which should be considered in future dietary reconstructions.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Weiping Zeng, Mark A. Purnell, Haishui Jiang, Muhui Zhang
Summary: The study relies on natural assemblages from late Norian limestone beds in southwestern China to describe the apparatus composition and element morphology of Mockina and Parvigondolella. The findings provide insights into the relationships and morphological similarities of critical Late Triassic taxa.
JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Paleontology
Sarah E. Gabbott, Robert S. Sansom, Mark A. Purnell
Summary: The study establishes a quantitative approach that combines data from decay experiments of extant taxa with preservation mode of fossils to evaluate information loss and retention in non-biomineralized fossils. It demonstrates that occurrence frequency of characters in fossils is correlated with character decay sequences observed in extant organisms, and decay prone characters are mineralized while decay resistant characters are organically preserved.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jordan Bestwick, David M. Unwin, Richard J. Butler, Mark A. Purnell
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2020)